


Seasonal Drinks

by rhysiana



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Fluff, M/M, Symbolically Increasing Caffeine Content, med school!ransom, professional!holster
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-05
Updated: 2016-12-05
Packaged: 2018-09-06 17:11:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8761867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhysiana/pseuds/rhysiana
Summary: An AU in which Ransom and Holster never met in college. Thank goodness for the local coffee shop.





	1. Apple Cider

**Author's Note:**

> A Tumblr fic trilogy I decided to be sensible and move to AO3 in chaptered format. It started during the 13 Days of Halloween fic-a-thon and ended just after Thanksgiving. Apparently I wanted Holsom fluff. That's all this is. Enjoy!

Justin looked blearily up from the automated flashcard program that had been quizzing him on medical terms on his tablet for the past two hours and stared blankly at the coffee cup that had just appeared before him. “I…what?”

He looked farther up and saw there was a person standing beside his table. And then he looked much farther up, and discovered it was a disconcertingly tall and good-looking blond guy. Who was currently glaring at him mildly through his cute rimless glasses. Oh god, how long had he been studying, that he was now objectifying strangers and their glasses?

“I, uh, did you want this table? I’m sorry, I’ve probably been here a while, I can just…”

“Bro, you’ve been here five hours now, and I can’t, in good conscience, watch you order any more coffee. I’m starting to worry about the muscles in your leg, you’ve been bouncing it so much.”

Justin looked down at himself in surprise, and then his gaze fell on the cup again. “But it’s okay if you get me coffee?”

“Apple cider. I was going to hold it in front of your face and try to use it to lure you outside, but that seemed a little creepy on second thought.”

Justin snorted in amusement. “Yeah, maybe just a little.” But now that he wasn’t in the study zone anymore, he was noticing how stiff he felt. Had it really been five hours? “You’re right, though, I should probably move around.” And then it occurred to him that he didn’t even know this guy. He looked at him again, brow furrowing.

The guy seemed to get it. “Oh,” he said, sticking out a hand, “I’m Adam. Friendly inadvertent coffee shop stalker-slash-mom friend.”

Justin couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face. He shook Adam’s hand. “Justin. Chronic overstudier, apparently in need of a mom friend.”

Adam returned the smile. “Want to actually take a walk? I’m done here, so I was about to head out anyway.”

“Um, sure. Lemme just pack up my stuff…”

“Sure, I’m gonna go grab a cider for myself.” Adam shot him one last smile as he headed back to the counter.

Which was how Justin found himself walking through BU’s campus and along the Charles River Esplanade for the rest of the afternoon with Adam, sipping apple cider and finally taking the time to notice that all the trees had changed color.

He aced his exam the next day, too.

As a reward, he let himself call Adam to ask him out on a real date. He figured he had a good shot, since he’d found his number on the cardboard sleeve around that first apple cider.


	2. Chai

They were sitting at their table in the corner by the window, because this was a thing they did now, work together on opposite sides of the same table at this coffee shop. Their coffee shop. For hours every day. Justin was pretty sure the manager was starting to think about charging them rent. Studying here had become a lot more pleasant, and possibly, weirdly, even more productive since the addition of Adam to his space. Now he had a reason to look up from his notes.

He realized that he had in fact just been staring at Adam for a solid minute and tossed his highlighter down on his stack of notes and journal articles. Since he had the chair that put his back to wall (always), he jostled Adam’s knee ever so accidentally a second before he stretched ostentatiously, secure in the knowledge he wasn’t going to hit anyone behind him. He bit back a smug grin at the way Adam’s eyes widened.

“Unfair, man. So unfair,” Adam said, eyes narrowing.

Now Justin did grin. “Gonna do something about it?” he challenged.

Adam gave him a considering look, then ran his gaze down Justin’s chest… to his notes. And then to his own laptop screen.

“Yes. I’m getting us drinks, because you clearly still have about two hours of stuff to get through, and I need to get this market analysis done.” He got up to head for the counter, but turned his head long enough to send a wink over his shoulder. “But, you know, don’t let that discourage you from stretching.”

Justin laughed. And then did some actually useful, far less flamboyant stretches, trying to work a few of the kinks out of his shoulders and shaking out his wrists in what he was fairly sure was a vain attempt to avoid a carpal tunnel before graduating from med school. Soon enough, Adam returned to their table, setting a mug down before Justin, who arched an eyebrow at the foam.

“It’s chai. I’m rewarding you with caffeine,” Adam said. “You haven’t looked like you were on the verge of a heart attack for a whole week!”

Justin pulled the oversized mug to him and inhaled the spiced steam. He gave Adam a half-smile and murmured, “I wonder why that is.”

Adam blinked at him a few times, then cleared his throat and pushed his glasses needlessly back up the bridge of his nose. “Well, I’m, uh, I’m glad you don’t think I’ve been distracting you too much. I was kind of worried about that.”

“Are you kidding? No! If anything, it’s the opposite. You were right that first day, you know. I kind of need someone to look after me.” He reached across the table and wrapped his hand around Adam’s. “I’m really glad you nominated yourself.”

Adam honest-to-god blushed, and it should have looked ridiculous on such a huge guy, but it was just… endearing. Because Justin was pretty much gone on him already, in case he hadn’t already noticed. He was remarkably okay with that.

Adam ran his thumb over Justin’s fingers lightly, then drew his hand back so he could life his own mug. He licked a bit of foam off his upper lip, which was so distracting Justin almost missed him asking, “So you’re from Canada, right? Have you done the American tourist thing and gone to throw fake tea into the harbor yet?”

Justin smiled, remembering when his whole family had come down to help him move into his apartment in Boston. “Yeah.” Adam seemed to deflate a bit at this, but then he followed it up with, “But I’ve never done it with you.”

Adam’s returned grin was nearly blinding. “Wanna go this Saturday?”

“Sure.”

Justin picked up his highlighter again and returned to his articles, determined to finish in Adam’s estimated two hours, punctuated with sips of chai and the occasional comforting bump of the knee with Adam under the table.


	3. Pumpkin Spice Latte

Justin’s phone rang. He grinned when he saw the name and nearly fumbled the phone entirely trying to answer it too fast.

“Hey! Are you back?”

“I’m back,” Adam confirmed. “Are you?”

“Yup. Got back a few hours ago, actually.”

“So… want to get coffee?”

“Oh, am I actually allowed real coffee this time?” Justin said archly. It was meant to be teasing, self-deprecating.

But Adam’s voice was entirely serious when he came back with a simple “Yes.”

Justin told himself the way his pulse picked up at that was stupid. Entirely stupid. It was just coffee.

Weirdly symbolic coffee.

He had actually managed to convince himself he really was reading too much into things and coffee was just coffee by the time he got to the coffee shop… and then his heart kicked back up when Adam waved at him as he walked in. He wasn’t at their usual table, having claimed the overstuffed couch in the corner instead, and he already had two mugs on the low table in front of him. Justin crossed the room to join him, unzipping his jacket and pulling off his hat as he went.

“Hey,” he said quietly as he sank down onto the couch. It was strange to realize this was the first time they’d met here without having any work with them. They’d been on dates, sure, but not here. It felt strangely intimate.

Adam smiled and handed him a mug. “Your pumpkin spice latte. It’s still technically Thanksgiving weekend, after all.”

“No it’s not, that was last month,” Justin said. And then he undermined his cultural point by closing his eyes to inhale the spicy steam with relish.

“Canadians,” Adam muttered. Justin opened his eyes again and grinned. Adam nudged Justin’s ankle with his foot. “Seriously, though, I missed you.”

“We were only apart for four days,” Justin replied. When he’d opened his mouth to say it, he’d intended it as a protest that this was far too short a time to allow for missing each other, but by the end of the sentence, it just felt like confirmation that it had definitely been a problem.

“Yeah,” Adam said, “I know.” He paused to take a sip of his coffee and then just looked at Justin until he did the same. “So I was thinking that maybe next year you should come home with me so I don’t have to miss you.”

“What an excellent solution,” Justin said, leaning forward.

And then they were kissing, the taste of coffee and spices lingering on their tongues. It tasted like a promise.


End file.
